


What's In The Box?

by canufeelthemagictonight



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Episode: s01e19 The Only Light in the Darkness, Evil Grant Ward, F/M, Gen, So...what's in that box anyway?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-04 09:35:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4132614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canufeelthemagictonight/pseuds/canufeelthemagictonight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"What's in the box?"</i>
</p><p>We all know what each agent answered. But what led May, Trip, Fitz, Simmons, Skye, and Ward to choose what they chose?</p><p>Set during "The Only Light In The Darkness."</p>
            </blockquote>





	What's In The Box?

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a bit of a character study, set during "The Only Light In The Darkness," and as such, all dialogue is from the actual episode. Also, in case you didn't read the tags, Ward is NOT sympathetic here, so don't read if you're a huge fan of his. Other than that, please enjoy!

The question, of course, is deceptively simple.

"You wash up on a deserted island alone. Sitting on the sand is a box. What is in that box?"

One simple question. But the answers are infinite.

It all depends on who is being asked.

 

Melinda May has always been a practical person. Perhaps that's why she's lasted this long.

So it comes as no surprise that by the time Koenig finishes speaking, she's already taken stock of her resources.

A deserted island. Well. Unless it's one of those ridiculous sandbars, there should be something edible somewhere. She knows some basic traps and snares, and if that doesn't work, she could easily identify which plants are safe for consumption. In a pinch, she could even make do with insects, provided they were big enough. Water won't be a problem; she just needs to find a source and let the small iodine bottle in her first-aid kit do the rest. As for shelter, a simple lean-to should do the trick.

Therefore, all she really needs is something to defend herself. Any sort of weapon would work, really, but since it's May's choice, she decides on the one weapon she's always wanted to wield.

"Machete," she says calmly, looking Koenig dead in the eye.

 

For Antoine Triplett, the question is a no-brainer.

A SAT phone. Obviously. Why go all Robinson Crusoe when he could just call a friend and be all, "hey, it's Trip, I'm stuck on a deserted island, coordinates 37 N 75 W, get me out of here"? Heck, as long as he picks the right friend, he'll be back at the base catching up on his favorite shows in no time.

As he answers, he vague wonders what any of these crazy questions (the difference between an egg and a rock? _What?)_ have to do with his loyalty to SHIELD. But he pushes the thought to the back of his mind. _Trust the system,_ every SHIELD agent and their mother used to tell him. And now that the system has pretty much gone nuclear (and he can't even think about his old SO without mentally screaming a string of obscenities), he's clinging to the little bit of system still around, because HYDRA or no HYDRA, there's still good in SHIELD. Coulson and Co are proof of that, thank God.

Besides, Koenig knows what he's doing.

Doesn't he?

 

"How big is the box?" asks Leo Fitz, in hopes of narrowing things down. After all, there are _thousands_ if not _millions_ of items that would be useful in this situation, and if he could just get an approximate—

"Just say the first answer that comes into your mind," says Koenig, cutting of Fitz's train of thought. "What's in that box?"

And then, like a bolt from the blue, she zaps across his mind, and the answer leaves his lips before he has time to think it through.

"Simmons."

He'll spend the next half hour mentally attempting to justify his choice. He chose her...well...because they're a _team._ Because Fitzsimmons work better together than apart. Because with their combined brainpower, surely they'd find a way off the island.

It's _not_ because he loves her and can't stand the thought of being without her.

Because he doesn't. Nope. No way. Not at all.

 

"That's a hard one. Let me think."

Jemma Simmons wrinkles her nose and considers the options. Since she knows all too well that she would make a simply _horrid_ Robinson Crusoe, what she needs is some form of transportation off the island. A boat, perhaps, or a small helicopter, or...

_Of course._

Her Doctor Who appreciation life flashes before her eyes. She's six years old, snuggled in between her mum and dad, oohing and aching at the special effects. She's fourteen, marathoning entire seasons in between studying for a chemistry exam. She's eighteen, introducing the show to Fitz, slowly but surely getting him addicted as well. And of course, she's in the present day, catching reruns of her favorite episodes, casually mentioning the Doctor to Skye in hopes of adding another Whovian to the world.

Yes, it isn't real, but neither is this hypothetical island. And as long as Simmons can pick her mode of transportation, why not go with the most extraordinary one possible?

"The TARDIS."

 

With Skye, the words flow out of her mouth like water down a river while her brain sprints to keep up. "I want to say my laptop, fully charged, but I don't want to seem subversive with the Rising Tide and all—"

Koenig interrupts before she has a chance to take a breath. "You're overthinking it," he informs her, and she can tell (despite the warmth in his tone) that he just wants to get this over with so that he can go back to playing _Call of Duty._

She doesn't blame him.

"The laptop would be stupid, anyway," she realizes aloud, embarrassment clouding her vision at the thought. "There's no Wi-Fi." She'd be stuck on the dam island with a useless piece of metal and would probably starve to death in days. Why couldn't she have picked something more useful? Like an airplane? Or an unlimited food supply? _Stupid, stupid, stupid._

Skye flushes bright red as Koenig moves on to the next question. First Mary Sue Poots and now this.

 

As for Grant Ward, well, he thinks the question is the most idiotic thing he's ever heard. These people are attempting to figure out who to trust, and _that's_ what they come up with? What's in a dam _box?_ How does that even _prove_ anything? It's not like there's a wrong answer—he could choose _literally anything_ and they'd let him through.

And oh, he wants _so badly_ to laugh in Koenig's fat face, to let him know that he's played him, he's played them all like a guitar the whole dam time. And then he could drop the HYDRA bomb and watch his head explode.

But as much as he'd love to show his true colors and tell these people exactly what he thinks of them, he knows the time isn't right to blow his cover. He has to keep the poker face going for just a little bit longer or risk ruining the whole mission.

So he smiles. He nods. He bites his tongue. And he plays the part the imbecile expects him to play.

"It'd depend on the island," he says calmly, the Resourceful SHIELD Agent oozing through his pores. "Where it is...how big...what's the terrain..." He throws in a brief little Look of Sincerity for good measure. "Is there fresh water?"

His thoughts drift, as they tend to nowadays, to Skye. Skye, who only minutes ago went through the very same test. What, he wonders, did she choose?

(And then, of course, he curses himself for the millionth time for letting that girl get under his skin.)

"Just say the first ting that comes into your head," Koenig insists.

 _Ah._ So _that's_ how these SHIELD idiots are doing things. "A pistol," Ward replies.

This is going to be easier than he thought.

 

"What's in the box?"

Survival. Trust. Feelings. Memories. Impulses. And deception.

Everything and nothing, all at once.

"What's in the box?"

Perhaps the better question is:

What isn't?


End file.
